The In-Law Initiation
by Tensor
Summary: In episode 9.24, there was a mention of Penny meeting Alfred before. Since we, as the audience haven't seen this, I got an idea. This will be a multi chapter with Lenny taking a trip to New Jersey in season 3, about half way between the aborted trip to Switzerland and their breakup.
1. Chapter 1

**The In-Law Initiation**

 **A/N I don't own the characters, except for the few I made up, who haven't appeared in TBBT.**

Penny looked out of the car's window as they traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike, nearing Cranberry Township. Turnpike was a funny word thought Penny. She was puzzled by the fact there were two names. It was also I-95. Why didn't they just call it the 95, like they did in California?

Penny turned toward Leonard, Penny could see something was bothering him. Since starting the ride from New York, every so often, his hands would clenched tightly on the steering wheel, and he would mumbled to himself. She thought about asking him what was bothering him, but she decided to ask something else, "How much longer?"

Leonard looked at the exit for Brunswick and did a quick calculation, "About a half hour," he said, "we're about half-way there." Leonard looked at her, she could see his face was serious, when he said, "Why, you getting nervous?"

She was sure now that something wasn't quite right. He usually would grin when he was making a joke. She chose to ignore that and answered, sounding a bit sad, "I don't know, I am worried about it. After all, he's a professor at Princeton, I'm a less than good actress and waitress."

Leonard was surprised. She was usually pretty confident, even when she was making snarky comments about her work. He tried to console her, "If it was my mother, I would be worried too, but you're meeting my dad. He's nothing like my mother. Remember, he's also dating a waitress."

That made Penny smile, but she became quiet as she wondered if coming here with Leonard was such a good idea, especially now, with Leonard looking upset with something. Leonard had come to her two weeks earlier, asking if she wanted to take a trip with him to Princeton. She vaguely knew Princeton was somewhere in New Jersey, but when she looked it up on Google, she got excited, because of how close it was to New York.

She asked Leonard if they could go to New York for a couple of days, after New Jersey. He chuckled and told her it would be fine. "After all," he had said, "this could make up for the Switzerland trip." While it had been just over a month since she had missed that trip, she was now excited about staying in Manhattan, at the Sheraton at Times Square. Her and Leonard had picked that out together.

It was only after they had picked their New York hotel, that she realized she didn't know why they were going, and thought to ask. Leonard explained that due to the divorce of his mother and father, there were some legal things his father needed him to sign, as far as ownership of some things, and other financial items he wanted to turn over to Leonard.

Penny watch the countryside roll by, and knowing his father was dating a waitress, she was thinking about Leonard and their relationship. Despite Leonard's father now dating a waitress, Penny was still a bit uncertain about her own suitability for Leonard. She couldn't get past the feeling that at some point, Leonard was going to get bored of her.

She wasn't smart, like Leslie, or that doctor, and she didn't really share his interests. He wasn't interested in going out, dancing, or celebrity gossip, or sharing her interests. Although, she had to admit, she was picking up some of his science fiction.

She grinned when she thought about the time she used the Star Trek reference when she was talking to that bitch actress. She had also started to remember quotes from the different Star Wars movies.

And, she had to give credit to Leoanrd. He had been listening to more of her music, although he would get bands and songs wrong. He was also watching some of her television shows. But, overall, she worried what kind of match they were for each other.

Leonard had started to slow down, exiting the Turnpike. Paying his toll, the continued through, rolling under the bridges with the turnpike above them. After a sweeping right turn, they came out on a two lane road. After another five minutes, Penny saw a sign showing Princeton straight ahead.

"Are we going to Princeton?" asked Penny.

"No," answered Leonard, "we're going to the house, with a short diversion."

"For what?" asked Penny.

"You'll see," said Leonard.

As they passed the next road, Leonard pointed to the left and said, "That is where we should have turned." Before Penny could speak, he continued, "It's just ahead, we'll come in another way."

Less than mile ahead, a large school building came into view on the left, set behind what Penny thought was a rather large parking lot. Leonard pointed toward it, "That's my high school," he said.

"Holy crap, that's a big school," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Leonard.

"That building's about twice as big as my high school," she said. "Not to mention that parking lot is much larger than our school's lot."

"Well, that's it, that's where I spent three miserable years," said Leonard.

"Then why did you show it to me?" asked Penny.

"Just showing you some of where I grew up," said Leonard. "I'll take you to Princeton, a few other schools, and some other areas around here. Not all of them are going to be good memories for me, but I've spoken of them to you before, just want you to see them."

They came to a traffic light, and Leonard turned left. The school was still to their left and the school property ran along the left side of the road. At another light, Leonard turned left again. Now they could see the back of building they had first seen. She was looking at the school, still comparing her school to this one, in her mind, _Those are some nice baseball and football fields, and another parking lot, damn._

"Leonard, how big was your school?" Penny asked.

"What do you mean?" said Leonard.

"How many students did you have in the school, in your class?"

"I don't know," Leonard said, "I think we had about 1500 or so. There was about 350-375 in my graduating class. Why?"

"I think we had about 350 total. We had 83 kids graduate when I did."

"I didn't think ours was all that big," said Leonard.

"It's a lot bigger than mine."

There had been houses on the right, and now as they had passed the school, there were houses on both sides. _Rather large houses,_ thought Penny, _and here weren't many trees this size, standing by themselves, around the area she lived, in Nebraska._

A road appeared on their left, and Leonard turned down it. Colonial Avenue, Penny saw was the name. Leonard traveled a short distance along the road. There had been several roads that lead off to the left and right, and finally, this road ended in a 'T', forcing Leonard to turn left or right. Leonard turned right and Penny tried, but couldn't see the name of the road they had turned onto. At the third house, he turned right, into driveway.

The driveway led to the right side of a cream colored, two story, house. This side had two garage doors. She could see two rather large oak trees in the front year, and numerous other oak trees scattered around the front and back yards. Leonard stopped the car, just in front of the garage doors, then shut it off. He looked over at Penny and said, "Well, were here, you ready to meet my father?"

Penny looked worried, but nodded.

Leonard said, "You don't have to worry, Penny. My father is nothing like my mother. You know I've struggled with how much time he's been away, but he seemed like a decent guy to others."

She still looked uncertain.

"And, remember," said Leonard, "he's dating a waitress, so he is required to like you."

That drew a smile from Penny, and they both got out of the car. They walked along the brick-lined path from the driveway, to the front door. They both stepped up the two steps to the small porch, and then Leonard pushed the doorbell.

They waited for a few seconds, the door opened, and there stood Leonard's father. "Leonard," he said, "so good to see you, come in, please come in." He turned and walked into the house.

Leonard and Penny entered the house, Penny closed the door behind them. They followed him through a small hallway, turning left and entering what looked like a living room. It was tastefully decorated, a TV was on, a large overstuffed chair facing it, there was a table to the right of the chair, with a couch to the right of the table. On the table, was some sort of drink and what looked like an iPad.

His father turned, and shook hands with Leonard. He turned and looked at Penny, staring for a second, he shook his head, then continued looking at her, as if in a trance. Leonard, taking the hint said, "Father, this is my girlfriend, Penny. Penny, this is my dad, Dr Hofstadter."

Alfred started and turned toward Leonard. "Leonard," he said, "you don't have to be so formal." Turning to Penny, he said, "Please call me Alfred." He put out his hand, ready to shake her hand, but Penny was having none of that.

"Come here," she said and step toward him, giving him a hug. He was tentative, but as the hug continued, he returned it. After breaking the hug, Penny took a good look at Alfred. There was a slight stoop to him, and every so often, he would blink and turn his head to the side. Even with the stoop, he was taller than Leonard.

It struck Penny; how can Leonard be so short? His dad was taller than Leonard. Beverly was much taller than either of them. She let that thought go and looked closely at Alfred. She could see the resemblance between Leonard and Alfred.

It appeared that Alfred had the dark hair of Leonard at one time. Now, however, it was heavily flecked with grey, and was thinning. He had a goatee and a mustache, _what was that call again_ , she thought, both were almost all white, like his sideburns. Penny thought he was well dressed with a light blue shirt, with a grey vest and a light brown coat and pants, with brown shoes. Penny grinned to herself, _Alfred had better fashion sense, than Leonard._

"So, Leonard," Alfred said, "how was the trip?"

Leonard's answer was short and clipped, "Long."

"Are you tired?" ask Alfred. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm, OK," said Leonard, as he turned to look at Penny. Penny nodded.

"Can, I get you anything?" asked Alfred.

"No." Again, he sounded short.

Penny realized Leonard was being very curt with his father. _Was Leonard mad at him?_ She thought. Alfred must have thought the same thing as he asked, "Are you upset with me, Leonard?"

"Some," said Leonard. "You spent years paying more attention to that damn Etruscan skeleton, than you did to me, and now you need help, you call me. Why don't you call that Etruscan boy up to take care of that stuff?"

Penny remembered Leonard talking about that skeleton before.

"I'm sorry about that," said Alfred, looking contrite. "There is no excuse, I simply spent as much time away from here as I could."

"And you didn't think about us, not being able to leave like you could," snapped Leonard.

"Yes," said Alfred, "I did think of that. But, I'm not sure there was anything I could do. I was the lead on those expeditions, so I had to go. I was in charge of the investigation after getting the skeleton back here."

"So, you were more dedicated to your job than you were to your family," said Leonard with the anger now very visible.

"I won't deny any of that," said Alfred simply.

Penny put her hand on Leonard's arm. He eyes smoldered as he turned to look at her. He could see the sadness in her eyes, and he cooled down. He gave a little nod and turned back to his father. "I'm sorry father, that is in the past."

"No, no," said Alfred, who had noticed the exchange between his son and Penny. "You have every right to be angry with me. But let me explain a bit." He paused, stroking his goatee, then said. "Leonard, I always tried to be here during the school year. I always tried to make sure I was at least home while you kids were here. I admit I was busy, I admit there were times I wasn't here, but I tried to spend as much time here, in this house, that I could."

"When I knew I was going to be gone for the summer, I was the one that found places for you to travel to, or go to during the summer. Your mother wanted nothing to do with that. For example, those three summers you went to orchestra camp? Those were set up, so you wouldn't be here alone, with your mother. Same with those two summers you spent at Princeton, staying in the dorms. I did the same for your brother and his summers spent studying law, or clerking for a judges. And your sister and her trips, during the summer for things having to do with medicine, or medical school."

Leonard thought back, and realized his dad was here, whenever his mother was home. He also remembered a "discussion" he had overheard his parents having, and now, looking back on it, realized his dad was probably trying to protect him, and his siblings, from his overbearing mother. While he realized his father had, and continued to have faults, and Leonard was still angry with him about that skeleton, he now looked at the actions his father had taken in a new, more positive light.

"OK," Leonard started, "what is all this about?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **A/N A quick note. All the locations, streets, restaurants are actual locations in the township of West Windsor or Princeton Junction. These are located just East of Princton proper and the directions to these various places are accurate. The only thing I've changed is the actual location of the house I'm using for Alfreds.**

Alfred looked at Leonard for a few seconds, his face questioning, then he said, "I have some collections I own, some collections I oversee, and some annuities attached to those collections, to pay for their upkeep. I want to turn those over to you, or have you oversee them upon my death," said Alfred.

Leonard didn't say anything for a few moments, then said quietly, "I'm not sure I'm the one that should do that."

"Leonard," said Alfred, "you are the only one. You brother and sister want nothing to do with me. I thought of them first, as they are the closest, but they have taken your mothers side in this, and I feel they will do nothing to help me out."

"Why do you think I would help you?" said Leonard.

"You are the only one, of your siblings who has kept in touch with me, since your mother and I decided to divorce," said Alfred.

Leonard again went silent, and after a bit, Alfred said, "I know, I wasn't around much and I know you weren't happy with me spending all that time working on Etruscan digs. But I think you'll understand that much of that was simply a way to get away from your mother."

Penny could tell Leonard was thinking about it. He had, Penny thought, his thinking face. After a 10-15 seconds, Leonard asked, "If I accept this, what is involved and what will I have to do?"

Alfred paused, "Are you sure you're OK with this?"

"I'm willing to listen to what you would like or need me to do," said Leonard. "Whether I accept is going to depend on what you are planning on asking me to do."

Alfred nodded, "Fair enough. I have a list of the different collections and the annuities that support them," said Alfred. "I also have several lists of the institutions that will be getting both the collections, and taking over the annuities. I would add you to the paperwork, so we would both be listed to oversee these things. While I am able, you wouldn't have to do anything. If I became incapacitated or die, you would oversee them until you can contact the different foundations and turn over the collections and the annuities. I have a list of the different places you would need to contact, if I cannot administer these."

"Dad," Leonard started, "is there anything I need to know about you?"

"What? Why?" said Alfred. Then it struck him, "No, no, no. Nothing to worry about. I just had a physical and I'm fine. It's just with the divorce, things could get complicated if I am the sole person on these papers."

"There are also two other collections. I have it set up to where parts of those would be sent to various different museums. I need someone to watch over those collections, and contact those museums so the museums can come and pick them up. I have a list of those things also."

Again, Penny saw Leonard's "thinking face". "So, I wouldn't have to do anything until you are unable to do them, right?"

"Yes, basically, you are my back-up," said Alfred. "And, if it comes to that, what you would do is sign all of them over to those institutions I've indicated. Besides the divorce, if I die, I don't want them to be caught up in any probate, having to wait for possibly months with no one taking care of them. Or facilities not being paid to take care of them, because it's in probate. You're just taking care of them when I can't."

After a few more seconds, Leonard nodded. "So, what do I need to do?"

"Well," said Alfred, "I have an appointment set up for tomorrow, for us to go down to the lawyers, and have them go over everything. After that, I would approve adding you, by signing everything, then you would have to give them your contact information, your Social Security number, some tax information, then they would add it to all the paperwork, and you would go in the day after, to sign everything."

Leonard was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded and said, "That will be fine. I can do all that."

"Thank you Leonard," said Alfred, "I really appreciated it. I was worried about what could have happened to them." He paused, "If you wish, we can talk about these things some more or you and ask questions of the people setting it up at the Lawyers tomorrow."

Leonard simply nodded.

============================TILI================================

Penny and Leonard were getting ready for bed, Leonard had taken them to a Thai restaurant for dinner, and then they spent the rest of the evening watching "Sex in the City". Alfred had gone to his room to work on some things.

As they headed up the stairs for bed, Penny had teased Leonard about staying in his room, as they were staying in the guest room. Leonard pointed out there was only a single size bed in his room, not the queen that was in the guest room. "While I would love spending the night on top of you, you might not like it as much, once we finished," Leonard had said with a smirk.

He had finished preparing for bed and slid in under the covers while Penny was still putting on her hand cream.

"So," asked Penny, "are you now OK with your dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said Penny, "I saw you clenching your fists, and mumbling about him, on the way here. And, you almost sounded mad at first when you first started talking to him. Is all that settled now?"

"Yeah, I know," said Leonard. "I was resentful. He spent so much time with that damn skeleton, I just wanted some acknowledgment of that. I do want to talk to him about it some more, but I think I can get by it now. I don't have to get over all of the past, to do these things he wants done. I guess I didn't understand what he did to protect us from Beverly."

"Was it really that bad?" asked Penny.

"You met her," said Leonard. "Remember when she had you crying after just a couple of flights of stairs?"

Penny thought back, "Yeah, I can see where living with that could be pretty bad. But, she wasn't like that this last time."

"Yeah," said Leonard, "she was upset because of the divorce, and you got her drunk. That next day she was back to normal, even though she was hungover. Remember the 'No prospects' comment in the car?"

"Yeah, I remember. I guess she was back to normal," said Penny. "She almost had me crying again by the time we got to the airport."

"Let's just leave it there," said Leonard, "I think I'm good enough with my dad now…"

"Leonard?" Penny interrupted. Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were upset with him on the way here," said Penny, "and were short with him after getting here. I wouldn't think you would have helped him."

"It's tough to explain," said Leonard. "I have the need to help people who need me. You know that, look at me agreeing to get your TV from Kurt, or me helping you with your rent or food, or helping Sheldon. It's just me, probably from trying to please my mother all the time. It also probably has something to do with trying to make up with my dad. He appears to feel bad about things and is aware of the problems I had with him. Or, maybe it's a combination of everything. I don't know."

"You don't usually help your mother."

"Penny, I don't want to talk about my mother. Let's just get some sleep."

"Ok, sweety," said Penny. She leaned over and kissed him, "Goodnight."

Penny rolled over, Leonard snuggled up behind her, in a spooning position, his right arm going over her waist, and his hand finding hers, their fingers intertwining. He kissed her neck, just below her ear, and whispered, "'Night…" An idea popped into his head, "I…I…I…" He couldn't finish it, so he just said, "'night."

============================TILI================================

Penny rolled over, reaching for Leonard. Her eyes opened slowly. She was briefly disoriented, then remembered where she was. She stretched and threw the covers back. She sat up, and rubbed her eyes. Looking around it came to her as to where the bathroom was. She got up, walked out of the room to the bathroom, and ran through her usual morning rituals.

She came back to the room when she finished, picked up her clothes from the chair, and put them on. Looking in a mirror, she ran her brush quickly through her hair, and then walked over to pick up her phone. Looking at it, she was surprised to see it was 9:30. She walked out of the room, and headed for the stairway. She could hear voices, one of them Leonard's, so she followed the sound, down the stairway and she ended up in what appeared to be the dining room.

Leonard had his back to the doorway, but Alfred saw her saying, "Good morning Penny."

"Morning Alfred," said Penny. Seeing Leonard turn around, she put her hand on his back, "Leonard, why didn't you wake me?" She leaned over to give him a quick kiss.

"You looked peaceful laying there," said Leonard, "and my dad and I have to leave at 10, so I needed to get a shower and get some coffee."

"Oooohhhhhh, coffee."

Alfred chuckled at Penny, "You don't function well without coffee"

Before Penny could answer, Leonard said, "It's not that she can't function well without coffee, it's that she can't function at all without coffee."

Penny shot a look at Leonard, who looked at her with a smile, until she stuck her tongue out at him. She smiled back at him — this interaction as well as the previous one, was noted by Alfred— then she said, "Where are the cups?"

Leonard pointed to a cupboard, which Penny went to, opened and pulled out a cup similar to Leonard's. She poured a cup, then came over to Leonard, leaned down and gave him another kiss, sitting next to him. "So," she said, "what are you talking about."

"Several things," said Leonard. "I'm catching my dad up on some of my research. He's catching me up on some of his, and we talked some more about the things I will be looking at this morning." Leonard looked directly at Alfred, "We also cleared up a few more things this morning."

Alfred looked back and nodded.

Penny looked at both of them, something was up, but decided to let it go. "Do, you need me to come along with you?" asked Penny.

"No, it's just going to be going over specifics and the paperwork," said Leonard. "It will be as exciting for you as a new 'Star Wars' movie, basically, not very."

Penny giggled, "OK, so what's the plan?"

"My dad and I will leave here in a few minutes," said Leonard. "We'll go to the lawyers and go over the stuff, and then we'll come back. I'll take you to lunch, and then we'll visit a few places, and tonight, my dad is taking us out for dinner." She could see a sideways glance at his father, who nodded slightly. "He's also going to introduce us to his girlfriend."

Penny realized Leonard was nervous about this, so she simply said, "That's nice, I can't wait to meet her."

She could see Leonard relax at this, then Alfred said, "We better get ready to leave."

Leonard nodded, then stood, leaned over and kissed Penny, then the both of the men went to the kitchen and came back without their mugs. They both left out the door to the main room, while Penny sat, drinking her coffee, and checking her messages. She answered a couple of texts from her girlfriends, and a couple of tweets. She had just got another cup when Alfred walked back in. Leonard followed a couple of minutes later.

"OK Penny, well be back in about an hour and a half," said Alfred. "Have a look around. I only gave you a quick description of the house last night, I have nothing to hide, so feel free to investigate wherever you want."

Leonard walked over to Penny, kissed her, and said, "OK, bye, see you in a bit." Alfred and Leonard walked to the door and left. Penny sat there for a few minutes, drinking the coffee and continuing to check her phone. She put it down, and looked around. The room was wood paneled, with wood cabinets and the table she was sitting at was also wood, with six chairs. She got up, walking into the kitchen, and put her cup on the countertop, near the coffeemaker, then headed for the main room.

She came through the door, and the staircase was to her left. It was a rather large room, the opposite wall was filled with bookshelves, and there were two doors, one toward the back and one toward the front of the room

Just past the staircase, was the couch and chair, they had sat in yesterday, the table, along with the TV attached to the side of the staircase. Near the opposite wall, were several tables, with chairs near the bookcases. To her right, she could see a door leading to the backyard.

She walked to the door on the opposite wall, nearer to the front of the house, and opened it. There were some boxes, with some chairs gathered together in the middle of the room. Bookshelves on the two walls that didn't have the windows, were both empty. It felt as if it hadn't been used in a while. She closed the door and went to the one near the rear of the house.

She opened it, seeing there were also two bookcases on the non-windowed walls in here, however these were full. In the far corner there was a desk and near each of the windows were several file cabinets. Penny felt this was Alfred's office. Everything seemed so neat here. She felt comfortable here, as it reminded her of Leonard, as his desk was arranged similar to Leonard's desk back home. She suddenly realized, that the other, unused room probably had been Beverly's office.

She backed out of the room, closing the door. She stopped by the window to look into the back yard. There were two oak trees near the house, and what seemed like a wall of trees running along the far edge of the yard. She didn't see any fences between any of the properties, but that stand of trees seemed to run along the back property lines of all the houses. She could also see what looked like an old dog house under one of the trees, _Was that Mitzi's_ , she thought, as she felt a sudden feeling of sadness for Leonard.

Turning back, she climbed the stairs. Their room was just to her left, to the front of the house, Leonard had told her it had been his brother's room. Instead of turning left, to go to the guest room, she turned to the right. There was a door to her left, this was Alfred's room, and she assumed it had been Leonard's parent's room. While Alfred had told her to look around freely, she felt like she would be invading Alfred's privacy, so she ignored the door.

Turning to the right, she came to another door, to a room at the rear of the house. She opened the door and looked in. She could see a bed, a dresser, and a desk. The bed was made, the dresser had some knick knacks on it, and the desk had what looked to be an older computer. Penny noticed the posters hanging on the walls. She recognized a couple as boy bands, and assumed this was Leonard's sister's bedroom.

She wasn't interested in looking at his sister's room, so she closed the door, walking to her right. After passing the bathroom, on the left, the overlook of the stairway on her right, she came to the last door. Opening it, she turned on the light and instantly recognized it as Leonard's room. She took several steps into the room.

The bed was made, and the desk in this room had another older looking computer on it. There was a dresser, but also a table with a television, and what looked like a older game console on it. Off to one side, she could also see a chess set on it. There was a music stand in the corner.

She wasn't sure what she should feel here. It was so interesting to see Leonard's stuff, from before she knew him. Looking in the dresser, they were what looked like clothes from the 90s. Digging through the clothes, her hand fell on something hard. Pulling it out and looking at it, she realized it was a journal, probably from Leonard's years before college.

She was torn. _Do I look at it? Should I look at it? I want to look in it, see what Leonard wrote._ She was all excited about looking into the book, then she thought, _Would I want Leonard looking at my journals from high school?_ with that thought, Penny put the book back, and closed the dresser, and walked over to the bookcases.

The bookcases were there, along each wall, and in there, filling about half the bookshelves were what Penny assumed were Leonard's books. Looking them, she saw quite a few books on science. But then she saw three books, recognizing them as 'The Lord of the Rings' along with the 'The Hobbit'. At that she smiled, thinking his taste in books didn't change all that much.

She also saw a group of over ten books by an author she had never heard of, Jules Verne. Pulling a book out, she looked at the title "From the Earth to the Moon". Must be science fiction she thought. Looking at the beginning, she was astonished to see it was written in 1865. Did they even have science fiction back then? She also saw a large number of books by three people named Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein.

She also spotted some smaller figurines on the bookshelves, and again smile, thinking about all the figurines placed around 4A. Gazing around, she noticed some posters on the walls here. Looking closer, she realized they weren't really posters, more like pictures really, and they weren't boy bands.

One she recognized as Albert Einstein. Looking at each one, she read the names, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Louis de Broglie, Paul Dirac, and the last one, choked her up a bit, Erwin Schrödinger. She would have to remember to look these people up on Google, or maybe just ask Leonard.

Penny took a last look around, she really felt part of this room, somehow it had made her feel closer to Leonard. Maybe because it was very much like Leonard. Still smiling, she turned off the light, left the room, and closed the door. She walked back around and went down the stairs, then into the kitchen. Grabbing her cup, she got herself another cup of coffee, sat down, pulled out her phone and started waiting for Alfred and Leonard to return.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **A/N Again, places, buildings, roads, and directions are all real.**

Penny was still sitting there when Alfred and Leonard returned. She rose, and Alfred watch as she went to Leonard and kissed him in greeting, leaving her arm around him "How did it go?"

"Fine," answered Leonard. "I gave them all the information, they'll do the paperwork, and I'll go in to sign them tomorrow afternoon."

"Doesn't your father have to sign them also?" asked Penny.

"Yes," said Alfred, "I do. But, I have some other business with then early next week, so I will be signing them then."

Penny nodded, "That makes sense."

"So," said Leonard, "you ready for lunch?"

"Yep," said Penny. "Let me go get my shoes and throw some makeup on." She left the room, heading for the stairs.

"Just remember, Leonard," said Alfred, "you need to be back by five-thirty. Our reservation is for six."

"We'll be back well before then," said Leonard. "Penny and I will need a shower and get ready."

"OK," said Alfred, "I'll see you then. I have some work to do, I'll be in my office." And, with that, Alfred turned and headed out toward the large room.

Penny came back into the room. "Well," said Leonard, "you ready?"

"Yeah, where are we going."

"A little place like Subway," said Leonard, "but it's a local place and is much better. After lunch, There's some places I want you to see."

"Sounds like fun, said Penny with a smile. What places?"

"Like it's a surprise," said Leonard. He opened the door and said, "C'mon, let's go."

Leonard backed out of the driveway and drove back the way he had come when they arrived. "Remember when I pointed out a road we should have turned?" asked Leonard. Penny nodded. "Well, were going out to that road, now," said Leonard.

Penny recognized the road they came to, and Leonard turned right. From memory, it seemed Leonard was heading back out to the main highway. Leonard finally turned left, the sign said Cranbury—Penny had giggled to herself— and went under an overpass. Leonard slowed and turned left, into a parking lot, in front of a strip mall. The sign over the entrance of the store they parked in front of said 'Crockadeli'. Penny giggle again, this time out loud as Leonard started getting out of the car.

They entered and Penny looked around. There was a large counter, with a menu up on the wall. There were several tables, and further to the right, it looked like a small convince store. They looked at the menu. Leonard already knew what he wanted, but was waiting for Penny. Penny stepped up and ordered a "California Wrap" and tea, while Leonard ordered an Italian Sausage with everything. He also ordered chips and tea. The watched their order being made, and after being handed their food, they moved to a table and sat down.

Penny watched Leonard try to deal with his sub. There was sauce dripping out, along with the mushrooms and peppers. He would grab them with his fingers, putting them in his mouth. She smiled and asked, "You need some help with that?"

Leonard chuckled, "No, I got it. It's a bit of a mess, but it's good."

"I take it this is somewhere you've been before?"

"Yes," said Leonard. "I used to come here all the time my last year in high school and when I went to Princeton. I could get food, and sit over there in the back, and not be bothered."

"Was this your favorite?" asked Penny, pointing at his sub.

"Yeah," said Leonard, "I liked to tell people it has all four food groups. Meat with the sausage, dairy with the cheese, vegetables with the sauce, peppers, and mushrooms, and grain with the roll. Those were just excuses, of course. I just liked it. Hows yours?"

"Surprisingly good," said Penny.

"Why surprisingly?"

"Well," said Penny, "when someone names a food "California" it usually turns out to be something they think California food should taste like, or something they see on television, not what we actually get, at least I found this is what happens in Nebraska. But this," Penny held up her sandwich, "this is as good as the wrap I get for lunch at that health food place off of Colorado. Better in some ways as this also has turkey breast chunks in it, not just slices. And, their ranch dressing in this, is the best I've ever tasted."

"I notice that you enjoyed my chips, too."

"Sorry," said Penny, she was looking down. "Leonard? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

She looked up at him and said, "Are you nervous about me meeting your father's girlfriend?"

Leonard looks puzzled, "No…Why?"

"Well," said Penny, "I saw that look you gave your dad, and the nod he gave you. I was just wondering if you didn't want me to say anything to her."

Leonard pushed his chips around, "No, I just didn't know if my dad wanted me to say anything before going tonight. I just wanted to make sure it was OK with him. He has some worries about me and what I think about his girlfriend. He didn't say anything about you meeting her."

"Thanks," said Penny, "I was worried. What do you think about his girlfriend?"

"I really don't have any thoughts," said Leonard. "As long as he's happy, I can't see where it's my place to approve or disapprove."

"OK, just asking," said Penny. "Obviously, I don't know your dad all that well."

Leonard smiled, "Well, he has a good opinion of you."

Penny looked puzzled, "Why? We only met yesterday."

"He didn't really say," said Leonard. "Although, I think he did mention something about you being similar to his current girlfriend."

"Then how do you know?"

"Well," said Leonard, "he was asking a lot of questions about you, about us, about how I was doing. He wouldn't have been asking about you, if he didn't think well of you. It was like he was trying to find out all he could about you. You know," Leonard had a sly grin, "like he was trying to find something not to like."

Penny looked worried, until Leonard chuckled and said, Don't worry, he didn't find anything to dislike."

Penny rolled her eyes, then looked at him and smirked, "I guess Hofstadter men have a thing for waitresses."

Leonard smiled, "I guess. You about ready to go?"

"Let me run to the bathroom, then we can leave," said Penny.

Fifteen minutes later they were headed backtracked down the same road, except instead of turning right at the "main road", they continued straight. They went through what appeared to be an area with quite a few businesses, with some residential areas further back from he road. After a bit, Leonard turned right, and now empty land appeared on either side. Penny recognized it as farmland, where nothing had been planted yet. _Of course, March is a bit early for that_.

After going by several large fields, they came to a stoplight, and Leonard continued straight. At the next street, he turned right and after only fifty feet or so, he pulled off to the side of the road. There was a school on the left and a larger one on the right.

Penny looked at him and grinned, "I assume that you went to one of these, right?" Penny was puzzled when she saw the smirk on Leonard's face.

"Nope," he said, "I went to both of these, actually."

"Really?"

"Yep," said Leonard, "the one over there," he pointed to the left, "is where I went for grades three, four, five. The one over there," his arm moved so he was now pointing to the right, "is where I went for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade."

"Well, at least they were close together."

"But they weren't very close to my house," said Leonard. "I'll be taking you to where I went for kindergarten through second. For some reason they split elementary schools here, K through two at one, and then three through five at another. That one over there is Village Elementary, then I went to Thomas Grover Middle School," pointing to the right.

"So, good memories?" asked Penny.

Leonard frowned. "Not really. I became aware of being picked on and bullied here in third grade. It got worse in Middle school. So, this area right here was the beginning of most of my problems with school, socially, even though I had no problems with the actual schoolwork."

Leonard sighed and sounded sad, "I suppose part of that was I was smaller than most of the others, I was also younger than everyone else. I dressed differently than the others. So all that made for a not so pleasant experience."

Penny finally understood some of what he had gone through and she felt so bad for him. She reached out, putting her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry Leonard."

"Don't be," he said. "It's not your fault, and I managed to get through it. I was probably pretty damaged. So between this and trying to please my mother, I guess it wasn't a good childhood." Leonard sat up, "But, I'm through it, and I have you, so everything is good." A slight smile showed.

Penny was looking at Leonard. _No wonder he can be so needy. All he wanted was some love and acceptance._ Penny had a rush of love and pity for him, and she placed her hand on his. "It's OK, Leonard. I…I…" She paused for a second, "I'm here for you now."

That rush had almost caused her to blurt out to Leonard that she loved him, but she had caught herself. _What does that mean,_ she thought. _How does that fit with my feelings for Leonard. What are my feelings, and why did this scare me?_ As she thought about it, she realized Leonard was looking at her, changing the subject, she said, "What else do you remember?"

"Well," he said, "I first learned how to play the cello in fourth grade. I'll tell you some more when we get to the other elementary school." He put the car into gear and carefully made a u-turn. Arriving back to the main highway, he turned right.

They went along "New Village Road" as Penny had seen for quite a ways. There were various developments on both sides of the road. On either side, there were stands of trees that partially hid many of the homes. Most of them looked rather new, and she asked, "Are all these new developments, Leonard?"

"Most of them, yes. When I was living here, almost all of this was farmland," said Leonard. "New Jersey's nickname is the 'Garden State', but a lot of this land is being taken up by all these new developments. So the name is kind of going away."

"Is that where they got the name for the movie "Garden State"?"

"Yeah," said Leonard. "The guy that wrote and stars in it is from New Jersey. He also filmed most of it here."

Penny chuckled loudly, "Hey, you know that guy in the armor suit, the one who was screwing that one guy's mother?"

"Yeah?"

"I just realized he looks like Sheldon," said Penny.

Leonard chuckled, "Yeah, he does. Funny, the guy is supposed to be able to speak Klingon too, just like Sheldon. Although, I don't see Sheldon having sex with anyone's mother, Do you?"

Penny was smiling, "No, I don't. But, that is funny about that guy looking like Sheldon."

After another few minutes Penny noticed a huge church to the right, but the developments on the left continued. She could see a traffic light coming up when suddenly, on the right, a large field opened up. On the far side, was a stand of trees, a house and a Barn.

At the light, Leonard took a right, bringing them directly in front of the house. To the left was another large field. Penny said, "Leonard, pull over." There was no where to stop, drainage ditches, except for the road connecting the two fields, were just off the road, with narrow shoulders, so he pulled into the driveway.

Penny was ecstatic. "Leonard," she said excitedly, "this looks a lot like our house in Nebraska. It has two stories like this one. We have fields like this and a red barn, just like this one. It makes me homesick."

Leonard looked around the yard. There were some children's toys, a couple of bicycles, there. There were two cars in the driveway and an old tree swing hanging from the oak tree in the front yard. "Remember all that farmland I told you about? This is what it looked like, a lot of family farms like this. It appears this family never sold their land to the developers."

"Well, I'm glad they didn't," said Penny. "I hope they are doing well." She looked around the yard, at the house, the barn and the fields, with a smile. Finally she turned to Leonard and said, "You can go on, I just wanted to see."

Leonard back onto the road, then turned to continue. Again, most of the land on each side of the road changed. They did pass a couple of smaller family farms, Penny could tell by the size and layout, but gradually those farms turned into more developments. They came to an intersection and to the left Penny could see a sign labeled "West Windsor Police Department".

Leonard continued through the intersection, and at the next one, turned left. He drove by a US Post Office to the left, and pulled into a parking lot. Pointing to the building in front of them, Leonard said, "There's where I spent most of my free time, The Mercer County Public Library."

"Most of your free time?"

"Yeah, it was tough, none of the kids my age could keep up with me, in schoolwork" explained Leonard. "So, I would go through lots of books. The head Librarian, and then most of the staff understood. I would find books, and then sit and read them here. No one bothered me. It's part of why I can deal with Sheldon, I guess. I get his childhood, although I don't think mine was quite as bad as his."

He sounded sad again, and another wave of sadness for him washed over her. She was going to say something, but he beat her too it.

"Anyway, I just wanted to show you," said Leonard. "We got a couple of more places to stop." He turned around and head back out the way they came. At the corner with the Police Department building, he turned left. After no more than 30 seconds, he turned left into a parking lot.

"So, what's this building?" asked Penny.

"That's where I spent Kindergarten through second grade," said Leonard.

"So what's special about this one, other than you went here?"

"This was the happiest I was, socially, while in a school that wasn't a college," said Leonard. "I got along with my classmates, we were the same age, and I was able to get through the physical education classes without looking like an idiot. It was also where I first became interested in astronomy. It was in second grade, and that led to me getting interested in physics.

"What happened in second grade?" asked Penny.

"I picked up a book about the Solar System, read it. I went on to a book about stars, then one about galaxies, then found out what Astronomy was and found all sorts of wonderful things that got me more and more interested."

She smiled back. "So, you can say this school is what brought you to me. Well, then, I like this school also."

He was grinning at her, "Well, this is not quite what brought me to you. There was something else."

Penny looked at him in puzzlement. Leonard said, "OK, one more stop."

He backed up, then pulled back onto the road and continued in the same direction they had been traveling. When they came to the intersection, Penny was surprised to find they were at the high school. Leonard turned right and then an immediate left to pull into the parking lot that she had seen behind the building, when they first arrived the previous day. He found a spot and parked.

He opened his door and said, "Come on."

Penny looked puzzled, "Where are we going?"

They closed their doors and Penny followed Leonard.

"Leonard, I said were are we going?"

Leonard looked back and smiled slyly, "Come on, I want to introduce you to someone."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Leonard grabbed Penny's hand and led her toward the building at the end of the parking lot. They hopped up on the curb, and started walking along a sidewalk. Leonard said, "This was my secret entrance into school. This is actually the teacher's parking lot. I didn't drive, but I could avoid most everyone by coming in here. "

"Was it really that bad, Leonard?" asked Penny with concern.

"Yes," said Leonard, "when it came to other students. If you count just the classes it was pretty good for me. Here we go."

Leonard held the door while Penny entered. He then lead her down the hallways, until they came to several doors, marked "School Office". They walked in.

"Leonard," said a middle-aged woman behind the counter walking toward them, "it's so good to see you again."

"Hi, Mrs. Hansen," said Leonard, "how have you been?"

"I've been fine, thank you for asking," she said. "What brings you back into town?"

"Visiting my father," said Leonard, "I wanted to come by and visit, and I wanted to bring a friend along, so I could show her my old school. Mrs. Hansen, this is my girlfriend Penny."

"Hi Penny," said Mrs. Hansen, "it's nice to meet you."

Penny smiled and said, "It's nice to you, too. Have you known Leonard long?"

"Heheheh," she chuckled, "just over 20 years. He started here the same year I started here in the office. He comes by every so often, when he's in town."

Leonard spoke up, "Can I get a couple of passes? I'm going to see Mrs. Byers."

"Sure," said Mrs. Hansen, "she'll be happy to see you. You know she's thinking about retiring next year?"

Leonard looked surprised, "No, I didn't know. It's a good thing I stopped by then."

"Sure is. It'll be a couple of minutes, you can sit down for a bit."

"Of course," said Leonard. Both he and Penny sat, waiting, Penny looking around the office. On the back wall, was a painting of a pirate, with a yellow shirt, green hat, a knife in his mouth and a patch over his left eye. Penny elbowed Leonard and pointed it out. "What's that?" asked Penny.

"That's the school mascot, we are the Pirates," said Leonard.

"Oh, like my school was the Titans."

"Yeah," said Leonard, "and the yellow, green and black are the colors, we…."

"Leonard," said Mrs. Hansen, "your passes are ready."

Leonard got up and approached the counter, "Thank you, Mrs. Hansen."

Leonard pulled the backing off, then stuck it on his shirt, then did the same and stuck it on Penny's shirt. He waved at Mrs. Hansen and led Penny out of the office. There was a short walk before they turned to the left and at that moment, there was a long tone, and suddenly, the halls were filled with students.

Leonard pulled Penny to the side, to keep out of the way. Leonard smirked as he watched the look many of the boys gave Penny. Penny smiling while holding on to Leonard leaned over and whispered, "You're loving this, aren't you?"

Leonard just kept his smirk and nodded. After a few minutes, there was another short tone and the hallways started clearing. After a minute there was a long tone, leaving the hallways empty. They continued on their way, and Penny saw, painted on the floor, the words Science Wing. Continuing on they finally came to a door, above it was a sign, "Physics Lab" and under that, "Mrs. Byers".

Penny saw Leonard stop, he seemed like he was composing himself. She put her hand on his arm. At that, he turned to look at Penny, and he smiled. He took a deep breath and, opening the door, he stepped in with Penny following.

Toward the back of the room was a desk, with a woman who appeard older than Mrs. Hansen. As they started back toward the desk, the woman looked up and Penny could see her face light up. "LEONARD" she shrieked. Rising she started quickly walking toward them and upon reaching Leonard, Penny was surprised to see them both reach for each other, enveloping the other in a hug.

Penny looked her over. She was a couple of inches taller than Leonard. Most of her hair was grey, although Penny could see some appearance of darker hair. It came down just over her ears, neatly framing her round face. She was wearing a light blue dress, that came down to her calf with a loafer type flat shoe.

The hug was long, with a lot of patting on each other's back. Finally, she broke it and holding him at arms length, she looked at him closely. "You look good Leonard," she said. "Happier than last time."

Leonard blushed, he reached out his hand to Penny, who took it. He pulled Penny in and then turned Mrs. Byers, "This is my girl…"

Mrs. Byers held out her hand, "And this must be Penny."

Penny sounded puzzled, "Yes, I am, How did you know…"

"Well, Leonard's been talking about you, in his emails, since just after you moved in. I finally got a picture last fall."

"Since I moved in?" said Penny, a question in her voice.

"Yes," said Mrs Byers, "I don't think it was too long after. Was it Leonard?"

Leonard looked embarrassed and didn't say anything.

Mrs Byers smiled, "OK, sorry Leonard." Turning to Penny she said, "I guess I wasn't supposed to tell you that. It's nice to meet you Penny."

Penny wasn't sure what just happened, but she could see the mirth in Mrs Byers' brown eyes. Penny smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. By…"

"Please call me Bonnie," said Mrs. Byers with a warm smile. "I can't get Leonard to call me Bonnie, even now. That, 'Mrs Byers' name was imprinted on him early."

Penny smiled, "I would guess that you taught him physics here, right?"

"She did more than that," said Leonard excitedly. "She got me interested in physics, she got me excited about physics, she pushed me to try more difficult problems, she …"

"Leonard," said Mrs. Byers, "calm down."

Leonard looked down at his shoes, "I'm sorry Mrs. Byers." He looked up at Penny, "It wasn't the last school that got me into physics, it was this lady here."

Bonnie smiled, "Oh, Leonard, you don't know how much you meant to me, as a student. Teachers spend years looking for, hoping for a student like you. Someone who wants to learn, who can learn, and who works hard at it."

Penny could see Leonard was embarrassed.

"Well, Bonnie," said Penny, " I have to thank you."

"Why," she asked looking puzzled.

"Well, since you encouraged him with physics, he got his degrees, then got his job at Cal Tech, and it was because of that, I met him."

"Hehehehe," chuckled Bonnie, "I kinda figured he would get those degrees, I didn't think he would get a girlfriend. You should have seen how awkward he was around girls and…"

"OK," said Leonard testily, "enough about my less than stellar social experiences here."

Mrs. Byers had a huge grin on her face, but she said, "Ok, Leonard, I'll stop."

Leonard asked, "What's this about you retiring? You haven't mentioned it to me, at all, in your emails."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she said, "it was an off the cuff remark in the teacher's lounge. I still have five to seven years before I retire. I still have many minds to shape."

"OK," said Leonard. "Mrs Hansen mentioned it, so I thought I'd ask."

So, tell me," said Mrs Byers, "what have you been up to?"

Penny spent the next hour learning some things about Leonard and Leonard's time in high school, and far fewer things about Mrs Byers. She didn't say much, mostly just listened to Mrs. Byers and Leonard talk. As she did, she could see the admiration and respect they had for each other, how much they meant to each other. Suddenly, the tone went off, signaling the end of the period, and Leonard stood, "Well, I guess we better be going, you have a class."

"Stick around for a bit, OK?" asked Mrs. Byers.

Leonard looked puzzled, but nodded.

Mrs. Byers pulled Leonard into a hug, and Penny saw Leonard returning it. Mrs. Byers broke the hug, and took a step toward Penny and pulled her into one, and after a brief hesitation, Penny returned it. They broke the hug and Mrs. Byers, looking at Penny whispered, "Take care of him, for me."

Before Penny had a chance to say anything, students started entering the room. She looked at Mrs. Byers, nodded and said, "I will."

Mrs Byers started walking to the front of the room with Leonard and Penny following. She stopped and the three of them stood together at the front of the room, the students looking quizzically at them. After the final tone, Mrs. Byers spoke, "All right, all right, settle down. Now everyone, I want you to meet a former student here. This is Dr Leonard Hofstadter." At that Leonard waved. She continued, "He works on experimental physics, mostly with lasers, at Cal Tech."

Penny saw several pairs of eyes go big, at that statement.

"With him, is his girlfriend Penny." Penny waved and grinned to herself when she also saw some eyes get big after that statement. Mrs. Byers continued, "After graduating from here, he got his Batchelor's degree, Masters degree, and PhD at Princeton. He was also one of my all-time favorite students, I just want you to meet him."

Penny could see Leonard blushing, and Mrs. Byers leaned over and whispered to Leonard. He thought about it for a few seconds and nodded and whispered back.

She straightened up and said, "Dr Hofstadter has agreed that anyone who want to apply for Cal Tech should come and talk to me and, if you've been a good student, and someone who's worked hard I'll write a recommendation letter for you. But, he has something to add."

Leonard cleared his through, and Mrs Byers turned to him, waiting.

Leonard started, "Hello, I want to add, that if Mrs. Byers writes you a letter, I'll have her contact me and I'll add some comments myself. You have such a great teacher here." Mrs. Byers herself now looked embarrassed as Leonard continued. "She will help you in class and in life. I know she helped me. So, if you get her recommendation, you'll have mine, as a member of the Cal Tech faculty."

Turning to Mrs. Byers, Leonard said, "We better get going, it was good to see you."

"Always good to see you, Leonard," said Mrs. Byers. "And Penny, it was wonderful finally meeting you." Penny smiled and they both nodded, heading for the door. Leaving the room, they returned to the office to turn in their badges. Leonard was quiet the whole way back to and while they were in the office. After they turned them in, Leonard muttered a short goodbye to Mrs. Hansen and headed to their car.

Their ride back to the house was a short one. Penny could sense that Leonard was being quiet and thinking about something, so she didn't say anything. She could tell whatever it was, had him deep in thought. She had some questions for him, but decided she would wait until they were back in their room before asking. After arriving at Alfred's house, they each grabbed a bottle of water, on their way through the kitchen, and went to their room.

Leonard was looking out the window, toward the front of the house. Penny came up next to him, put her arm around him, laid her head on his shoulder, and said, "So, what's wrong?"

Leonard didn't say anything.

Penny poked him in the side and said, "Come on, what's wrong?"

He looked at her, "Not sure I can explain it."

"So," Penny prompted, "she was your physics teacher?"

Leonard smiled, "Yeah, she was. She pushed me in school. I mean the physics classes were a breeze for me. She got me working on more advanced things. She introduced me to some of the physicists and mathematicians, at Princeton, so I could get an introduction to some advanced topics. Those classes got me into Princeton a year earlier than normal and it could have been two years early, if I had wanted it, so you could say I owe her my entire career."

"You seemed more emotional about this than just your career, what was that thing about life?" asked Penny.

Leonard was quiet for a few moments, when he spoke there was emotion in his voice, "She was really more like a mother to me. My dad was gone a lot, I have some ideas as to why now. My mom? You've met her, she was cold, distant and as a result either couldn't or didn't want to talk to me. I couldn't get guidance from my parents, so I also tried to get my brother to help me, but that didn't work either, so for years, I had to try to figure things out on my own."

"Until I found Mrs Byers. I took her junior physics class as a freshman, but had been quiet those first few weeks. The first time I really talked to her was two weeks into my freshman year. She came along while a couple of the guys from the football team were trying to stuff me into my locker. She stopped them, and took me into her classroom."

I was on the verge of crying and she got me calmed down. Over the next few years, I could always count on her to help me with those kind of things, among others, that happened in life. I absolutely adored her, and she kinda took me under her wing."

"There were limits as to what she could do while I was here. After all, I was a student, so she was pretty careful to keep it to things she would have done for other students. Once I was at Princeton, I was still only sixteen when I started remember, her and her husband basically became my surrogate parents. They didn't have any kids, so I guess I was the kid they always wanted."

Leonard stopped, Penny heard him sniffle. _He's still emotional_ , she thought.

Suddenly, a small smile formed on Leonard's face. "She even tried to get me dates, although she never succeeded," he said. "That's why she was teasing me about my social life being awkward, she's done it before." There was a pause and the smile disappeared, "She helped me deal with bullying, she…she…she was there for me."

Penny could see the tears in his eyes and she hugged him. He returned the hug. After several seconds he backed off. After taking a swig of the water he continued, "After I left here, I never found anyone like that again. I guess that's part of the reason I'm so close with Sheldon. He looked embarrassed, then looked down. "I guess that's why I'm so clingy with you."

Penny smiled at him, but was thinking. _So this explains why he's so needy with me. I guess I can understand it a bit better now._ She said, "So, you told her about us?"

"Yes, I did and like she said, I also sent a picture," said Leonard. "I send her an email about once a month. She's always been concerned about me finding someone. When I went into excessive detail about the lovely blond that moved in across from me, she encouraged me to ask you out soon after you moved in. After we only had that one date, and I continued to pine after you, she worried about you doing something to hurt me if we did start going out, so she quit telling me to ask you out."

"Leonard, I would never hurt you intentionally," said Penny. She paused and hung her head, "I know I've hurt you, but not because I was trying to hurt you. I would do what I could not to hurt you. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if that's why she told me to 'Take care of you'. I was wondering about that. She seems to really care for you."

"She does," said Leonard.

"So, do you think she liked me?" asked Penny.

Leonard smiled, "Yeah, I think you did. She said it was wonderful to meet you. She wouldn't have said that, if she didn't mean it. I know her. "

"OK, good," said Penny with a smile.

"I'll add your greetings, when I writer her again," said Leonard.

Penny grin got bigger, and she hugged him tightly. Finally she said, "Hey, I hate to break this up, but it's after four, we got to get ready for dinner tonight."

Leonard looked around at the clock, "Yeah, we do."

They headed off to get ready, Leonard finished before Penny. He headed downstairs and was in the kitchen when his father walked through. "Hey, Leonard," he said, "I'm heading off to pick up Ally. We're going to Ruth Chris' Restaurant. It's on College Road, just West of US 1. I'll see you there."

Leonard looked at his phone, looked up the restaurant, and put the address in his mapping app, to get the directions. "I got it, we'll see you there," said Leonard.

"We'll be in the bar," said Alfred.

"OK," said Leonard.

He sat down and waited for Penny. She came down and, to Leonard, looked fabulous. She had a short red dress, coming quite a bit above her knees. A small necklace, a chain of gold, and some black flats. Her blond hair was curled about her shoulders.

Leonard was thankful that she was wearing flats. He smiled and said, "Trying to outdo my dad's girlfriend?"

"Nope," said Penny, "I'm just trying to impress them."

"You've impressed me," said Leonard, "you, look great. Let's go."

They left the house and Leonard turned left out of the driveway. Leonard spent the trip pointing out and telling Penny about different places they passed and if he'd been at those places. He checked his phone a few times, making sure he was taking the right route.

They found the restaurant, and pulled into the parking lot, found a spot and parked. They walked to the restaurant and entered, Leonard holding the door for Penny, and looked for the bar. Finding it, the entered and looked around, trying to find Alfred. They finally saw him at the bar, talking to a woman whose back was to them. Walking up, Alfred saw them, and called out, "Leonard, Penny, good to see you made it. Both of you, this is Allison. The woman rose out of the seat and turned. Penny gasped, putting her hand over her mouth, Leonard's mouth dropped open.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Leonard and Penny found themselves staring at a women, with shoulder length blond hair, flecked with bits of grey, that was curled around her shoulders. Her high cheekbones, lay below her green eyes. While there were a few lines on her face, those were small and the majority of her face was smooth, making it hard to determine her age. She looked like an older version of Penny.

They heard Alfred chuckle, then say, "I thought you both might be surprised." They both looked at Alfred, then back to Allison. "I'd seen a few pictures of you, Penny, but I must say, I was taken aback when I finally saw you in person yesterday. The pictures don't really do you justice. Anyway, Leonard, Penny, this is Allison. Allison, this is my son, Leonard, and his girlfriend Penny."

Allison smiled, Leonard noticed it was almost the same as a smile as Penny's, and he thought her voice very similar to Penny's as Allison said, "It's so nice to meet you."

Allison continued, "Alfred has told me a lot about you Leonard, but he didn't tell me how lovely your girlfriend is." She chuckled at her own comment as Allison pulled a surprised Leonard in for a hug."

"Well," said Alfred, "I didn't know how lovely, in person, she was until yesterday."

She hugged Penny, but it was obvious, Penny and Leonard were still unsure of themselves. Alfred realized this, and said, "Can I get the both of you a drink?"

Penny ordered wine, as did Leonard. Alfred turned to the bartender, who pour, then brought the drinks, Alfred paying for both. Taking their drinks, they followed Alfred and Allison to an empty table, and they all sat down. There was an uncomfortable silence as they all looked at each other.

Alfred cleared his throat, then said, "Leonard, I'm not sure what your mother told you about Allison and I, but your mother and I breaking up was not Ally's fault."

"Then why does she think you were having an affair?" asked Leonard.

Alfred looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then said, "Look Leonard, you mother and I haven't gotten along for quite a while now. We weren't talking to each other, and when we did, it was mostly fighting."

"It was after another of your mother and I's fights over a year ago," said Alfred, "that I first met Ally. I was in the cafeteria, getting something to eat before my first class. I wasn't in the best of moods, and as I was sitting there, looking over my lecture, Ally walked past and said, 'C'mon, smile, it can't be that bad'. When I looked up and saw her, I couldn't help myself, I had to smile."

"What exactly," said Leonard, "does that have to do with mother telling me you were having an affair with a waitress?"

"That is probably my fault, Leonard," said Allison.

Leonard turned to Allison, "Why do you say that?" asked Leonard.

Allison was quiet for a few seconds, then she started, "I know your mother has been telling a lot of people that I'm a waitress. But, I'm not really."

"The why would my mother think you were, and what does that have to do with my mother thinking my father was having an affair?" asked Leonard.

"Probably because your mother saw me working in the cafeteria," said Allison. "You go through the line and get your own food in our cafeteria. I help prep the food, then clean tables. We don't have waitresses who deliver food to the tables, in the cafeteria, so it's still silly of her to call me one."

At that moment, they heard their name called. They rose and walked to the hostess station. After confirming their name, the hostess led them to their table, each couple sitting across from their partner. The hostess passed out their menu's and told them who their waiter would be. After asking if they needed anything else, and getting no response, the hostess left.

They started looking at their menus, and Allison said, "I'll tell you the rest after we order." They spent the next five minutes looking at the main items, and discussing which sides they should get. At that time, their waiter came over. They all ordered steaks, along with three sharable sides. The waiter took their orders, took their menus, and took off.

After he left, Allison spoke up. "Leonard," she said, "nothing happened between us, until after your mother filed for divorce. I wouldn't have allowed it. See, I'm divorced. My husband cheated on me, so I directly experienced how much pain the breakup of a marriage would cause, and also how much cheating hurts."

"And give him credit," said Allison pointing at Alfred, "your father was upfront about that. He told me he was still married. So, he and I would meet at different places and talk, and a friendship developed between us. You father said he wasn't going to get intimate with anyone until the divorce had been filed, so we didn't."

"What we didn't understand, was how appearances could be viewed. How the appearance of us having a friendship could be taken as cheating, if someone wanted to look at our time together that way. So, we continued to talk at the cafeteria and get together at coffee shops. We found out later, other people, not just your mother, took it as we were having sex, and your father was cheating. So now you know why he was accused of having an affair, with a waitress, even though he wasn't having an affair, and she wasn't a waitress."

Leonard looked thoughtful, trying to understand. His kept losing track of his thoughts as he kept returning to how much like Penny, Allison looked. And, how his dad's relationship with Allison, was similar to his and Penny's in some ways.

Allison took his silence as disapproval, so she continued, "Look, I was really screwed over in the divorce. I got very little transitional money, his lawyer was just so much better than mine. As a result, I was forced to go back to work. Without a history of working for almost 30 years, and no training, there wasn't much I could do. So, I got the job at the university and met your father for just talking…"

They were interrupted by one of the food runners, bringing their salads. After he left, Alfred spoke. "Do you want to hear how we got together?"

Leonard was still quiet. Alfred spoke up, "Look, Leonard, if you have a problem with her, it's my fault, not hers. Like I said, she didn't break up the marriage, it wasn't really a marriage. I would think you would be happy for me finally being happy."

"I am happy for you," said Leonard, "and I don't have a problem with Allison. At first I wasn't comfortable with her, but now my mind keeps returning to how much Allison looks like Penny. It's kind of distracting."

Allison and Alfred both smiled. "Yes," he said, "they appear very similar. And, from what I've seen of Penny, they are very much alike in their personality also."

"Sure, sure" said Leonard. Penny nodded her head.

"Anyway," said Alfred, "going back to after she told me it wasn't that bad, I explained to her it was that bad," said Alfred, "that my marriage was falling apart, my wife was cold, wasn't showing any physical affection, and to be honest, and I didn't really care if it fell apart, which, in some ways was what was really bothering me. She stop and talked for a few minutes, and I felt better."

"After that, I started looking for her, everyday. By then, there was very little interaction between your mother and I, you know how cold she can be. And what interaction there was, was very contentious. Ally brought some warmth back into my life, without being physical about it."

"We started spending a lot of time in the cafeteria talking, and then started meeting in coffee shops, just to talk. Now, I have to admit, that it was probably all the time we were spending together that got us noticed, and that was passed along to your mother. She probably put things together and thought there was something going on, so she asked for a divorce."

"But why would you accept a divorce if you weren't cheating," ask Leonard. "I don't understand."

"Leonard," said Alfred, "at that point, it just didn't care to be with your mother anymore. All of you were gone. I looked at a divorce as a way for me to get out of the marriage. If she wanted to call it adultery, so what? I'll mention that she didn't file based on adultery, she filed under Irreconcilable Differences, even though she kept referring to it as adultery."

"I want to back your father up here Leonard," Allison interjected, "that all we did was talk. It was your father who suggested I go back to school. They have a program at Princeton, that allows you to attend here, if you work here. If it wasn't for your father, I wouldn't have gone back to school. He also helped me with my application, my essay, all of that."

They had all finished their salads and Penny, with assistance from Allison, had stacked the bowls, along with empty glasses in one corner of the table.

Allison continued, "I've met and talked to your mother, prior to meeting Alfred, she's a bit of a bitch…"

They were briefly interrupted by a busboy taking their salad bowls.

"Sorry, Leonard. That was over the line," said Allison.

"No, it's OK, I understand how people reach that conclusion about her, please, continue."

"About six months ago," Allison said, "Alfred told me that your mother had filed for divorce. About a month later, I was being goofy and ask Alfred if we could go out now. He smiled and said yes we could, but he didn't say anything else. So, finally, I asked him out, he can be shy about such things."

At this, Penny laughed and said, "That's exactly how Leonard is. When he first asked…"

Penny was interrupted by their food being brought to the table. As they ate, Penny and Alfred started talking, as did Leonard and Allison. This switched back and forth through out their meal. They leisurely talked and ate for almost forty-five minutes before finishing their meal. As they finished, Penny, and Allison both stacked the plates, glasses and flatware.

Leonard looked quizzically at Penny, and she giggled, "It's a carryover from being a waitress. Allison's been helping, so she's probably had it drummed into her, too." Allison smiled at Penny and nodded.

That waiter came over, and they all ordered desert. While they were waiting, Leonard said to his father, "Dad, I have another question and go back to another of your statements"

"Go ahead."

"Why would you go out with her," said Leonard, "just after the divorce was filed? Couldn't the judge look at that and think you were actually going out, and thus actually committing adultery? And I don't understand why mother would not file because of adultery, if she thought you were actually having an affair."

"I suppose you were right about the judge," said Alfred, "but there were other circumstances."

"What other circumstances?"

"Hehehehehe," chuckled Alfred, "remember when I said I was looking for a way out of the marriage?"

"Yes."

"Well, so was your mother," said Alfred. "We both were looking for a way out, but since we weren't talking, we didn't know. But, with me and Ally spending time together, she thought it gave her a reason to file. But, 'Adultery' is an at fault reason for divorce. You have to prove it. She didn't have incontrovertible proof of Adultery"

"But, there is another basis for divorce is called 'Extreme Cruelty'. This can be either physical, or mental. I threatened to counter file for 'Extreme Cruelty' and thus push the divorce to trial. Without her having proof of Adultery, and since I did have proof of extreme cruelty, she risk losing the case and ending up having to pay me some sort of settlement, and my attorney's fees."

"So, after I pointed this out, she ask if she filed under Irreconcilable Differences, would I fight it. I said no, I wouldn't fight it as it made everything simpler and cheaper. And we wouldn't have to wait for 18 months. It's one of the very few things we've agreed upon over the last couple of years. By the way, please don't tell her you know about this. If she wants to claim it's because I cheated, let her."

Leonard was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded, "OK, that makes better sense. It's a bit much to take in."

Alfred spoke up, "I understand Leonard, I'm just trying to give you everything I know, so you can put it together yourself."

Their deserts came, and they fell quiet while they ate. After finishing their desert, they finished their drinks and called for the check. The waiter laid the booklet on the table, near Leonard, and Alfred spoke up, "Leonard, you and Penny are my guests, I should pay for it."

Leonard smiled and shook his head, "Look dad, were staying at the house, you bought the drinks, let me take care of the check, you can leave the tip, how's that?" Alfred hesitated, then nodded. Leonard pull out his card, put it in the sleeve and waved at the waitress.

Alfred was counting out the bills for the tip, when Penny said, "20%, right?"

Alfred looked up, "Yes, Allison taught me."

Penny nodded, "I had to teach Leonard. He was leaving like 10% when we first met. When I explained things to him, he started leaving more. He didn't even know about counting the tip from the price before any coupons or discounts."

"Well, I knew that one," said Alfred with a smile.

The waiter returned and wished everyone a wonderful night. Leonard signed the receipt and put his card away. Everyone got up and walked out of the restaurant. Once outside, they all stopped.

Alfred turned to Leonard and said, "I'm going to take Allison home, we have some stuff to go over for one of her classes, and then I'll be home, probably three or four hours."

"That's OK," said Leonard. "We got to make sure things are packed, since we'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon."

"I can't get you to stay any longer?" said Alfred.

"Sorry," said Leonard shaking his head, "I wasn't sure if we were going to stay as long as we have, because I wasn't sure of how I was going to feel. We have a reservation in New York for tomorrow night, So we have to get to the hotel by tomorrow. Maybe we can come back sometime during the summer."

"That might not work," said Alfred. "I've got a couple conferences I have to attend, and I'm not sure how much longer we'll have the house. It's going to depend on the divorce. I may have to start looking for an apartment. But, we can talk about that over the next few weeks."

Leonard nodded, turned to Allison, and said, "Allison, I'm sorry I was so standoffish when we met. I was a bit uncertain how I felt, and now that I understand a bit more, I have to say it was so nice to meet you. Although, I seem to have met you already when I met Penny."

Allison chuckled, "Yes, we seem to have a lot in common. It was nice meeting you, and I felt like I've met a younger Alfred." She stepped up and hugged Leonard, who returned it, she then turned to Penny.

"I was nice meeting my daughter," Allison said with a grin, pulling Penny in for a hug.

Penny giggled and hugged Allison, "It was nice meeting you. I hope to see you again."

"I really hope to see you again."

Alfred and Allison turned and walked toward Alfred's car. Leonard and Penny watched them go. As their car left, they waved at them.

They walked to their car and headed back to the house. They were quiet on the way, except for Leonard telling Penny they were going to get an early start the next day.

"Why an early start?" asked Penny.

"Well, my dad told me the appointment at the lawyer is for 1 PM tomorrow. I want to take you to breakfast at a special place, then show you some of the buildings I was in during the time I was at Princeton. So, we have to start out around 8, and I know how much coffee it's going to take to get you moving."

"Shut up," said Penny, as she slapped his arm.

Leonard laughed and they were both quiet for the rest of the trip. After getting back to the house, they headed for the guest room, to prepare for bed. There were working their way through their before bed rituals when Leonard said, "What were you and Allison talking about?"

"Nothing much," said Penny. "About her job, about my job, about her going back to school. About her and your dad, about me and you… why?"

"Just wondering."

"What did you talk about with her?" asked Penny.

"Mostly about how much she looks like you. About how we met, and finally got together. I also said her personality was similar to you. We also talked about how worried she was about being smart enough for my dad."

"That's interesting," said Penny.

"Why?" asked Leonard.

"I said the same thing to your dad," said Penny.

"Penny, you know I don't care," said Leonard. "As long as it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me."

"That's interesting," repeated Penny.

"What is?"

"Your dad said the same thing about Allison," said Penny. "He doesn't care either, as long as it doesn't bother her."

Leonard chuckled, "Yeah, my dad and I talked about that. How to make it clear to both of you that we don't care. If it bothers you, we'll try to figure out something. We just want to help you get over that, so you're comfortable with us."

"He does, you know," said Penny.

"Does what?"

"Wants to help her get over things like that," said Penny.

"Well, that's all I want for you too," said Leonard.

"Yeah, that idea was something I picked up from him. So, I may have to look into school, in the fall," she paused for a second, "From talking to him, he is really fond of her. I would almost say he loves her."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he talks so sweet about her," explained Penny. "He want's her to be happy, want's her to strive to get better, want's to help her, but only if she needs and asks for it. I have to say, I'm happy for him."

"Well, that's good."

"You don't understand, Leonard," said Penny. "I don't think you know how unhappy he was with Beverly. He was desperate for someone to care for him, to love him. That came through in our conversation. I remembered your description of building a hugging machine and his using it. He's very much like you in this and I've got a better idea about you."

"He is also, like you, a bit shy, which I thought funny since we talked here at the house. But, I could see you in him, and I get some idea of your thoughts, talking to him. What did you and your dad talk about?"

"I spoke to my dad about her," said Leonard "and it turns out you are both quite similar, besides looks. She's very touchy-feely…"

"Yeah, I noticed. She was always putting her hand on our arms."

"…about our girlfriends and college. As I told you, she's very insecure about her intelligence," said Leonard, "She's also very warm and welcoming, again, like you."

"How about you and your dad, anything about that?"

"Not really, we told each other about our work," said Leonard. "We talk about his research. He's got a final paper coming out, about the Etruscan skeleton. Then he also has a couple more from the site of the last dig. So things are going well. I told him about my experiments with lasers, my military grant, and how those things are going."

"So," said Penny, "how do you feel about your dad and Allison."

"Actually," admitted Leonard, "I'm quite happy for my dad, and I think I'll be closer to him going forward."

Penny smiled, "That's good. I like your dad Leonard, I like Allison too."

"Well, we agree on that" said Leonard. "Strangely, I also feel happy for my mother. It seems she was pretty unhappy herself. Now they can live their separate lives, and not see each other, they won't be fighting, so they can be happy."

"Well, they can fight at our wedding.'

"Wedding," said Leonard shocked, "wait…what?…wedding? What do you mean, wedding?"

"Leonard, calm down." said Penny, "it was a joke."

"Oh, OK," said Leonard, still sounding shaken. "Come on, lets get to bed." They both headed for the bed, pulled back the covers and got in under them. They both settled their pillows and rearranged their blanket before turning to each other. They kissed, and Leonard tried to pull back.

"Not so fast you," said Penny. This is our last chance to have sex here, so you're not going anywhere. We have to do it in your house at least once."

"But, my dad…"

"But nothing," said Penny. "He won't be home for another two to three hours or so, we have time."

"But, we have…"

"Shut up Leonard," said Penny. Her lips met his, her tongue entered his mouth, and her hand went down his boxers. Leonard gave into the inevitable.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Again, all the description of places and directions are real. One more chapter after this.**

Chapter 6

Leonard heard the alarm from his phone, and he reached over and shut it off. He slid his left arm out from under Penny, got out of bed, and headed to the bathroom. After finishing, he returned to the room, squatted down next to the bed, and gently kissed Penny.

There was no reaction, so he kissed her again, this time also shaking her shoulder. She groaned and rolled over. Leonard smiled, he was enjoying this. He stood, leaned over and kissed her cheek as he shook her shoulder even harder. Another groan, but this time her eyes half-opened.

"What?" she said, sounding both confused and cross.

"Come on," he said. "Time to get up. We have to get going if you're going to see some more of this town."

Penny closed her eyes and groaned again, "Give me a few more minutes."

"Hey," said Leonard. "You're the one that started everything last night."

Penny pulled the pillow over her head, muffling her words, "But you didn't have to keep going for the second time."

"Hey, you got me started," said Leonard with a grin. "I seem to remember you telling me to keep going. And you were enjoying it also. So, come on, get up." He pulled the pillow off her head.

"Oh, all right," said Penny, throwing the covers back.

"I'm going to start the coffee," said Leonard, heading for the door. "Come on down when you're ready."

Leonard headed out of the room, and down to the kitchen. He turned the coffee on, and went and grabbed two cups. Placing them near the coffee pot, he poured a cup and went to sit at the small breakfast bar. He was sipping on his second cup, when Penny walked in. She poured herself a cup and plopped down next to him.

"So," she growled, "when are we leaving?"

"In about 15-20 minutes," said Leonard. "I'll let you get a cup of coffee into yourself, to get you going, and then I'll take you to breakfast. There's a really good local place for that, plus another place I want to show you while we eat."

"How are you going to show me somewhere, while we're eating?" Penny asked. "Are we eating while we drive?"

"You'll see."

They were silent as they both sipped on their coffee. When they both finished Leonard put their cups in the sink, and he led Penny out to their car. After starting the car, Leonard pull out and headed down the same road as the previous day. They came to what Penny had started thinking of as, the 'main road' but instead of turning right, as they had the day before, Leonard turned left.

They drove past Leonard's high school, stopping at the light. As they went straight, Penny could see driveways, though most of the houses were hidden behind trees and hedges along the road. At the next light, Leonard turned left, then pulled into a parking lot, parking in front of building, a sign on top reading "PJ's Pancake House".

Penny joined Leonard in getting out of the car. As they were walking up to the door, Penny stopped and looked at the tables outside saying, "These are cute, can people eat outside?"

"Yeah, you can," said Leonard, "I don't see anyone outside, it's probably a bit too cold today."

They turned and entered the restaurant. Leonard whispered something to the hostess, she nodded and led them to a booth, with a view out of the front of the Restaurant. She handed each of them a menu, "Would you like coffee?"

They both nodded and the hostess left. Penny looked around and said, "So, this is a local place?"

"Yeah," said Leonard. "They even have a special for 'broke college students'. My friends and I ate here quite a bit. I think you will love their French Toast."

Penny smiled and started looking at her menu. The waitress came by, with two cups of coffee, and said, "I'll give you a couple more minutes."

They looked at the menu, Leonard noticed there were several new items, both for breakfast and dinner, but he decided, as he always did here, on the French Toast, along with an order of sausage. He was also looking forward to the Vermont maple syrup. The waitress came back, and asked if they were ready to order.

Leonard nodded and gave her his order. Penny said, "Can I get the French Toast, with the strawberries and the sweet cannoli cream and can I get a side of bacon?" She handed her the menu and then, remembering something said, "Can I get a small glass of milk?"

The waitress turned, and wrote that down. She looked at Leonard and said, "Do you want milk also?"

Leonard shook his head and said, "No, no, no milk for me. But, can I get an orange juice, no pulp?"

He handed the waitress his menu as she nodded to him and left.

Penny was looking around, the place had a feel, to her, that it had been her for a long time. She especially enjoyed the table top. Like the others, it was carved with various initials and symbols, some in various colors of ink.

Leonard watched her trace her finger over a couple of the symbols, so he said, "I know there are several tables with my initials on them, and a couple with physics symbols. I know 'cause I put them there. It's kinda a tradition here. But it's been so long since I was here last, I don't remember where all my carvings are."

"So, you came here for breakfast and the sandwich shop for lunch?"

"Well, not on the same day," said Leonard. "I'd take other students here. I was the only one in my class, in the physics program anyway, with a car those first few years. They all lived in the dorms, while I lived at home until I was in grad school. So, when we had a chance, I'd drive them over here, get a good breakfast around ten or so, and it would last all day. So they didn't have to buy lunch. Even those on the meal plan would come, if I had the room."

"That was awful nice of you."

"It wasn't a big deal," said Leonard wistfully. "It felt kinda good, as they were nerds like me. It was the first time I felt part of a group, almost like getting together with Sheldon, Raj, and Howard later."

"Awwwwwwww."

"Anyway," said Leonard. "Here's the other thing I want to show you. You see that red fire hydrant out there?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "that's really a bright red."

"It's how they paint them here," said Leonard. "Anyway, you see the house across the street from it? The one with the bright blue shutters?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That is where my cello teacher, Mrs Redman, lived," said Leonard. "That house is where I would go every Wednesday afternoon, for my cello lesson. She had a room in the back that was her music room. Music stands, a piano, one whole side of the room with shelves for printed music sheets or books of music. She also had a lot of CDs back then, along with a pretty impressive stereo. That's where I learned how to play the cello."

"That is so cool."

"She was really nice," said Leonard. "She had two kids, and sometimes she would run off to take care of them, during a lesson. But, she must have kept track of the time she was gone, because however long she was gone, she would add that to the end of the lesson. She played the cello for a local orchestra. Her husband was a music teacher at another high school."

"So, when did you stop coming here?" asked Penny.

"I quit coming here regularly, lets see, my second year in high school," said Leonard. "I decided to concentrate on a physics program Princeton had for local high school students. If you did well, it would count extra, for getting into Princeton. There was a lot of extra work with it, and my practice time got cut way back, so I decided I would drop weekly lessons. After that, I'd call and stop by every couple of months, just to keep it up. I stopped for good, when I started college. They moved out, went to Florida, when they both got offers to teach at a high schools, south of Tampa, I think. I was in grad school by then."

"Do you still hear from them?" asked Penny.

"No, I guess they got busy after they moved," said Leonard. "In my case, I had a lot going on in college, I was taking 20 credit hours, so I kinda stopped writing, and they did to, so we lost touch." Leonard sounded sad, thought Penny. She was going to ask about it, but just then, the waitress came by with their food, putting it on the table.

They started eating. Leonard was enjoying the French Toast and syrup, remembering previous times here, while Penny was going into ecstasies over her food. The different flavors of the French Toast, Strawberries and cream combined in a way she had never experienced before. The waitress came by, with some more coffee, warming up their cups.

There wasn't much conversation while they ate, and by the time they finished, the waitress had their check on the table. Penny wiped her mouth, finished her milk, then took a drink of coffee, before saying, "So how long is this going to be today."

"We'll have a couple of hours," said Leonard. "Then, I'll have to get you back before I go to the lawyers. At the first stop, we'll get out and walk, if I can find a parking place. That should take about forty-five minutes or so. Then a short drive to show you one other place, it's a place I always visit, Then it will take about a half hour to get back to the house. We can have lunch, if you feel like it, then I'll go to the lawyers, and when I come back, we'll have to leave, if were going to make it to our hotel tonight."

"Sound's like you have it all planned out for us today."

"Yeah, kinda," said Leonard. "It's just that I want to show you these places, and we really don't have a lot of time. So, I did plan it out. So, you about ready?"

"Yep," said Penny. "Give me a couple of minutes to run to the bathroom."

"OK," said Leonard. "I'll pay the check, while you do that."

The both finished their coffee, Penny had already stacked the plates, so Penny got up walking toward the bathroom. Leonard left the tip, then headed to the register. There was a couple ahead of him, so he waited. The couple left and just as he finished paying for the check, Penny came walking up, and they walked out to the car.

He turned left, out of the parking lot, stopping at the light. They turned left, getting back on 'the main road', as Penny thought of it, and for the next few minutes, it appeared to Penny that they were going through a business district. There were drug stores, banks, strip malls and a couple of large gas stations. At the next intersection with a light, Leonard went straight and the road was now bordered by stands of trees and bushes, hiding anything behind them.

The road branched off, connecting to the approaching cross road and they traveled along this for a couple of minutes, riding past houses on either side of the road, with an occasional store or church. At the next traffic light, Penny noticed that the signs directing drivers to US 1 going north or south, if you turned right or left. Leonard went straight.

After the intersection, the land changed. There were random stands of trees, and beyond them, was more of the farming fields she had seen yesterday. Like those, the fields were fallow, probably waiting to be plowed and planted in a few weeks. The car rode over a bridge, over what looked like a lake.

"This is a pretty small lake, for such a large bridge," she said.

"Actually it's a river," said Leonard. Pointing to the right, he continued, "Over that way, there is a small flood control dam. When we get too much rain, or during the spring when all the snow melts, they partially close the dam and it forms this small lake. Depending on how much rain, or how much snow melts, this could get larger, which is why they have the large bridge. Then they release the water slowly, so it doesn't flood downstream."

Just after the bridge, they had to stop for a red light. Looking to her right, Penny saw a small park, with what looked like a boat ramp leading into the lake, along with a few picnic tables and some free standing grills, and a small playground. Once past the intersections, the sides of the road were again filled with many stands of trees and bushes, making it hard to see past them, along with trees hanging over the road.

After a minute or so, the tree's thinned out and Penny could see a walkway ahead, above the road. To the surprise of Penny, Leonard made a right turn under the bridge. It was then that Penny could see the walkway split to either side of the road, with the road coming out from under the bridge.

After about 100 feet, the trees on each side of the road ended, and she saw two large buildings. A four story one on her right. She wasn't sure, how many stories the one on the left had, as the design of the building hid the upper stories from her view. Leonard pulled over, and stopped on a grey bricked area. "Welcome to Princeton," said Leonard with a grin.

"These buildings look all weird," said Penny looking at the building on her side.

"The one on your side is the new Chemistry Building," said Leonard. "The Chemistry Department will be moving in over the summer. Over here, on my side, is the Physics building."

Penny's head snapped around. "This?" she said pointing at it.

"Yeah," Leonard said, "I spent eight years going in and out of that building, it's called Jadwin Hall. The main entrance is on the other side." He shook his head, "I can't count the number of hours I spent in there, either in class or doing experiments. Hold on, let me see if I can find a parking place."

Leonard got back on the road and almost immediately turned left. As they drove along the road, Penny noticed what look like a large wall to her right. "What's that?" She asked.

"That," said Leonard, "is Powers Field. It's where the Princeton football team plays."

"Oh."

Leonard made a left turn into a small parking lot.

"Wow," exclaimed Penny, "what it that?" pointing at a tall building.

Leonard stopped, "That is called Fine Hall, it's the Mathematics department, it's next to the physics building. I spent a lot of time in there also. Some, in quite a few of the math classes, but also asking questions and seeking help for some of my physics problems I'd be working on. Ahhhh, good," said Leonard. "This lot is mostly for faculty. You can see that most of the spots have names in front of them. But there are two spots that aren't marked. Sometimes they're empty, I was hoping they were." Leonard pulled into one of the non-marked spots, and turned off the car. "Come on, let's go."

The got out of the car and Leonard led Penny toward the entrance to the parking lot. Stopping there, Leonard pointed toward a two story building off to the left, "That is the Astrophysics department. You know, the department Raj works in at Cal Tech."

Penny nodded and held Leonard's hand as they followed the sidewalk, toward the very tall building on their right. There were buildings on either side of them, and where they ended, they came out into a small courtyard. Leonard stopped for a minute, pointing to the left. "There is the main entrance to the physics building." Pointing to the right, he said, "This is an addition to Fine Hall. Under, this court yard is a specialized library for math and physics. It's connected to both the math department and the physics department.

There looked to be some construction ahead of them on the left, Leonard explained, "There's a new large lecture hall going up there. It will be connected to Jadwin Hall, and they should have it finished in a couple more years."

"What's that?" asked Penny. She was pointing to a large group of what looked like painted steel.

"That's a sculpture. I think it's called five disks, or something like that."

He continued to lead her along the sidewalk, until he arrived at the road.

"This is the road we came in on, see the over the road bridge where we turned?"

Penny nodded after looking to the left, while Leonard looked at the traffic. "Come on," he said pulling her along to get through a break in the traffic.

On the other side of the street was another sidewalk, running between two buildings, each of them three story buildings tall. They had almost reached the other end of the buildings, when Leonard suddenly stopped. He pointed up at the third story of the building on the right, looking at Penny, "See that third window from the edge, on the third floor."

Penny looked up, "You mean the one with the person in it?"

Leonard's head jerked up, peering at the window. "Shit," he said, "come on, let's go."

Penny had seen the person cup their hands to look out, but Leonard had pulled her along, preventing penny from getting another look.

"Leonard, what's wrong?" she asked. "Who was that?"

They reached the street, Leonard did a quick look, both ways, and seeing no traffic, he kept going, kept looking back, kept pulling Penny along with him.

They got across the street before Penny pulled Leonard to a stop. Leonard looked back again, then tried to continue, although he was breathing heavily. Penny held on to him, preventing him from going and said, "Leonard, stop this. Tell me, what's going on."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Again, the directions are accurate. I want to thank everyone for reading. Hokie, Zhalen, Desdemona thanks for reading the chapters over, all comments were helpful. This one ran a bit longer than the others, but not long** **enough to split.**

Chapter 7

Leonard was breathing heavily, as he pulled out his inhaler, took two breaths deep breaths, as he sprayed the medicine into his mouth. He held up his hand, asking for some time and after taking several more deep breaths and still sounding out of breath said, "I'm sorry Penny… that was my mother…I just wanted to show you… where her office was… I didn't expect to see her and… I really didn't want to interact with her…."

Penny put her arm around Leonard, looked back, and seeing the trees blocking her view of the window said, "Well, calm down, she can't see us from here," said Penny.

They slowly started walking back to their car, when suddenly Leonard's phone rang. Leonard looked at it, and Penny heard him mutter, "Dammit."

He took several more deep breaths before answering the phone, "Hello, mother."

Leonard listened and said, "Why would you say that?"

Another pause, and then a disgusted sounding, "Of course he did. We're staying at the house…yes we, Penny and I. Didn't he tell you that also?" the last said in a very sarcastic tone.

Another pause, "What do you want mother? No, we're not on campus." At that, Penny looked at Leonard strangely.

Looking at her, he shook his head…"Well, I'm heading back to the house, I've got to sign some papers. Yes, it has to do with father, and I'm not at liberty to tell you. Ask him yourself, if you're that interested. Yes, we're leaving as soon as I'm done today, probably in about two to three hours Yes,…yes,… yes mother, next time I'll stop and see you. Yes,…yes,…goodbye to you too, mother." He ended the call.

"Your mother called you?" asked Penny.

"Yeah, she saw us," said Leonard. "She called to ask if it was me. Sheldon told her I'd be here, but I guess he missed telling her about you. Anyway, she tried to get me to tell her what I was doing here, but I told her to talk to my dad."

"I see you lied to her."

"Yep," said Leonard. "I've had plenty of practice and as long as I'm not with her physically, I can do it. I just collapse when I'm actually around her. I didn't want to get into it with her. What I'm doing with my dad is up to him to explain to her. It's his business, not hers. Anyway, like I said, I just wanted you to see where her office is.' She'll be moving in a couple of years. They are building a whole new neuroscience building, by that walkway we drove under. Ironically, it will, like those two buildings, just across the street from the Physics buildings."

They had arrived at their car and both got in. "Are we heading back?" asked Penny.

"No, we got one more place to stop," said Leonard. "It's somewhere I stop every time I come home. It's really kind of shrine for me."

"OK," said Penny, "lead on."

They backtracked on the road they had come in on, the football field on their left now. Pulling up to the main road, under the elevated walkway, Leonard turned right. They drove past the Physics building, then the math building.

They passed many more old looking buildings. Many of them reminded Penny of they same style of older buildings in Europe. But, mixed in with those old buildings, were newer buildings. It was an interesting mix. Coming to a light, Leonard turned left. He drove a short distance, houses now on either side of the road and turned left again, this road angled off of the main road. After passing several streets, Leonard pulled to the side and shut the car off. "See that?" he said, pointing across the street.

Penny looked over to where he pointed. It was a two story house, with an elevated front porch, five steps led up to it from the front walkway. Four wood pillars rose from the porch, holding up the outside wall of the second floor. All of the windows had shutters on each side of the window. The shutters, and the front door were a blue-black color. There was a gate, with a short hedge on either side of the gate, running the length of the property. On the gate was a sign, "Private Residence".

"What is this, Leonard?" asked Penny.

Leonard looked a little overcome. "This…this…house, is where Albert Einstein lived, from 1935 until his death in 1955. He bought it after getting run out of Germany, because of Hitler. "

Penny felt awe, realizing what they both were looking at. "Einstein? The E equals mc…something guy?"

"Yep," said Leonard. "He had an office at Princeton for a while, then, after it was built, he moved over to The Institute for Advanced Studies. They basically built that institution for him to work on his theories. But here is where he lived."

Penny could hear the respectful tone in his voice. "Have you ever been in the house?"

"No," said Leonard. "It's been a private residence since it was sold by his daughter in 1986. Actually, it's owned by the Institute. But, of course, many physicists know of it and many, like me, come by, just to look at it. I started coming here when I got involved in Physics, when I was in high school."

"I have been in his office at the Institute," said Leonard. "After he died, the office has been given to some of the most brilliant physicists of the time. I was with my doctoral advisor when he went to see a friend of his, who had his office. Although Einstein was no longer there, just the fact I was standing in the same office as he had worked, made me nervous. I wasn't sure I deserved to be there."

Penny nodded. She could see this was affecting Leonard deeply, so she stayed quiet. After a few minutes, he turned back to the front, and started the car. "OK, now we can go back, sorry for the delay."

Penny smiled at him, "No, I think I get it. It's probably like me finding a big star's house in LA. "

He nodded and started forward. He made a left at the next street, and after about ten minutes, Penny could see the restaurant where they had eaten breakfast that morning. And in about five more minutes, they were back at the house.

They came in and found Alfred at the dining room table, with a cup of coffee and papers laying in several neat piles on the table. He looked up, smiled and said, "Hi."

Leonard spoke up, "Dad, mother saw us, and she called me. She was asking about what I was doing here. I told her it was something to do with you and after she asked me, I told her she needed to talk to you about it."

Alfred sighed, "Well, I can't say I didn't expect it. She seemed to know you were coming the last time we yelled at each other. Why did she call you?"

Leonard looked embarrassed, "I took Penny to Princeton, to show her the physics area. Since mom's office was right across the street, I thought I'd show Penny where it was. I didn't expect mother to be looking out and see us."

Alfred shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing to worry about really. These are all academic things, so it doesn't really concern her. Don't worry about it."

"OK," said Leonard. "I have to go get ready to head to the lawyers." He leaned over, gave Penny a kiss and said, "I hope you enjoyed the little tour."

"Yeah, I did, I really liked the restaurant." She smiled at him, "But I get why the other place affects you so much."

Leonard smiled back, nodded, and headed off. Penny looked at the table and said, "What is all this, Alfred?"

"Just something I've putting together for my next presentation," he said. "I'm putting the illustrations in, among the explanations and data, for each section."

"Do you need any help?"

"Sure," he said. "That pile, the one near you is a bit far from me, but it has all the images, so if you could hand me a page when I ask for it, it will be helpful."

"OK," she said, "Hold on, let me get some water, and I'll help."

Penny went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and came back and sat down. After handing Alfred about three pages, Leonard came through, getting ready to leave. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Helping your dad put together his presentation," she said.

Leonard looked at her with a funny expression, "OK, well I'll be back in a bit. Remember, we'll be leaving just after I get back, so we can be at the hotel tonight."

"How long will you be?"

"We'll, it's a half hour drive," said Leonard, "so it's an hour there and back. I guess about an hour there, so call it two hours, somewhere around 2:30 to 3:00, I would think."

"I'll be ready," said Penny. "I've only got two or three items to pack, so when your dad is done, I'll go finish our packing."

"That's good," said Leonard. Leaning over, he kissed her, and left.

Alfred and Penny continued to put his presentation together, and after another half hour, they finally got it done. Alfred then took each section and put the different piles together, into one big pile, and said, "Thank you for your help Penny, I appreciate it. It would have taken me quite a bit longer."

"Your welcome, Alfred," said Penny, starting to get up.

"Hehehehehe," said Alfred, shaking his head.

Penny smiled and asked, "What?"

Alfred smiled at her and said, "I can't get over how much like Allison you are."

"We do look a lot alike."

"Not just that," said Alfred, "but, your personalities are very similar."

"And some of our experiences," said Penny. "Like, you got her to go to school. Leonard tried, but it made me mad, his thinking that I wasn't smart enough for him." Alfred laughed. "Ally believed I thought the same about her. In reality, it was her who thought she wasn't smart enough. I thought no such thing, of course. I simply came up with the idea that if she went to school, she wouldn't feel inferior. Fortunately, she didn't get mad at me, so I could explain to her. Really, I like her just the way she is."

Penny thought back and realized, Leonard had been simply trying to ease her worry. That was less than a year after they met, did Alfred know?

"Alfred," Penny tilted her head, and said, "can I ask you something."

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"What did Leonard tell you about me?" Penny asked.

"Let's see," said Alfred, thinking back. "I guess I knew about you almost immediately. He had mentioned that his new neighbor was a beautiful woman. He talked about you in the emails I got. Penny did this, Penny did that. Penny helped me with this, or she did something for me. He said he asked you out, and you had said yes, but then I didn't hear anything about it."

"We went out," said Penny. "But I was worried, he's so smart, and I'm not. I didn't give him a chance to explain, like you say Allison did. So, we didn't go out again. I hate to admit it, but also, there was a nagging fear I had. Leonard wasn't like the guys I usually went out with. They were usually tall, with money, usually really good looking…not that Leonard isn't good looking. I kinda like the wave in his hair, and with his glasses of, he's got a rugged handsomeness…" Penny trailed off, thinking of Leonard. She suddenly realized she was speaking with Alfred, and continued.

"The thing was, the other guys always treated me bad, in some way. Either they would cheat on me, or just take off. There was even one guy who wrote about our sex life on the internet. Or, they just wouldn't do things to help me, unless I would do something for them. But Leonard…Leonard…he was different. He genuinely cared for me. Even if I was going out with someone else he was always willing to help me. Even when I was going out with other guys, I knew I could count on him. I somehow knew that."

"Over the year afterward, I came to realize this," said Penny. "I went out with several different guys, but they didn't measure up. He also dated a couple of women, one even moved into his apartment. All of it made me realize what he meant to me. So, when he came back from the North Pole, I let him know how I felt."

"Well," said Alfred, "you must have made some kind of impression on him." "He was always talking about things you would do for him. Something about changing his way of dressing, trying to get him to be more outgoing. I heard you threw him a birthday party?"

"Yeah, I did," said Penny smiling. "I heard he never had one, so I, and his friends put one together. The problem was he was late getting to the party, so he missed it."

"Well, you have certainly have gotten him to change," said Alfred. "He dresses better. He seems to have more confidence. He didn't look down at me, as he used to, when we first started talking, he looked me in the eyes when he questioned me. It looks to me that you genuinely care for him also. So, I think you have been good for him."

Penny blushed and looked down, but she was thinking now. _Do I really do that for him? Do I really care for him?_ This seemed to catch her by surprise, but she said, "I guess we've been good for each other."

"Just like Allison and I have been good for each other," said Alfred. "She's working to get me over the rather bad marriage I had. And, she says I've allowed her to trust again. There are things we are still working on, but overall, it's been good for us. We just managed to work through a rather rough patch over the last month."

"What happened?"

"She told me she loved me," he said, "and I couldn't say it back."

Penny looked intently at Alfred. "How did you work through that?"

"We talked," said Alfred. "I was mortified as I didn't expect it. I had trouble with my marriage for a while now, and I didn't think that anyone would say such a thing to me. Although I guess how close we had become should have given me a hint. I was quite flummoxed. All that came out was, 'That's nice.' How silly is that?"

"I tried to play it off as a joke," said Alfred, " but I could see the disappointment on Ally's face. We just kind of skipped over it the rest of the night, just let it lie there. The next day, I explained to her how much I cared for her, but I just couldn't say that yet. It didn't mean I didn't have strong feelings for her, but…love, love was just something I wasn't sure I could say."

"She was upset, I really didn't blame her, so we talked some more, and decided we wouldn't worry about it, for now. We would revisit it in a couple of months. She asked if there was anything she could do to help. I told her there was nothing she could do. It was something I had to work through. And, I didn't want to lead her on, if it turned out, after a couple of months, I still couldn't say it. We would look at it some more.

If I decided, at some point, I wasn't ever going to be able to tell her, we could both move on. But, neither of us wanted to make a rash decision, and end up breaking up, when, if we gave it some time, we might be able to work through it. She was kind enough to say she would give me time."

"One problem we ran into," said Alfred, "was talking to friends and their giving us advice. Don't say it, some said; back off from each other, some said; among other things. We finally decided we couldn't listen to anyone else, we needed to talk to each other. Work it out that way. Because listening to others could lead us falsely into something we didn't want."

Alfred looked thoughtful for a second, "Penny, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"Has Leonard said it to you yet?"

"No," said Penny looking surprised, "Nothing like that. Why?"

"I just got that feeling," said Alfred. "Leonard tends to hang onto people who show him kindness. From his emails, from just watching you two together here, your looks at each other that communicate to each other, so well. With all that, I get the impression you two have strong feelings for each other?"

Penny paused, "Well, I haven't said it either. To be honest, I really haven't thought about it. Something like that is a major step in a relationship, and I've haven't had very good luck with it. The few times I've said it, something would happen with the guy. He would say I was pushing him, or he would break up with me, or he would just take off, or cheat.

"It may just be I'm not sure how to handle how things are going with Leonard. He's so good to me, and there are time when I just don't know what to do. It's not something I've been through before, someone being good to and for me. Basically, we've just been going along, working things out as we go. It's been rough at times, but I don't think were near the point of saying something like that yet."

"Well, I think you should think about it," said Alfred. "So it doesn't catch you by surprise, when either of you say it for the first time."

"No," said Penny, her voice sounding hard, "there is nothing to think about, at least from my end." Her voice softened, "I do care for him, very much, but thinking about saying 'I love you' …I don't know, I'm not ready for that yet, for either of us." She looked around nervously, got up and said, "I have to go get the rest of our stuff packed. Glad I could help you, Alfred."

Penny hurried out the door, heading for their room. Alfred watched her go, looking out the door Penny had gone through, looking thoughtful, shaking his head.

A half hour later, Penny had her back to the door, zipping up her suitcase, when Leonard came through, "Hey, you ready…"

Penny gave a shriek, as she turned around, her hand on her chest. "Leonard," she yelled, "are you trying to scare me to death?"

"No," said Leonard looking puzzled, "just seeing if you were ready."

"Well, I just finished," she said curtly.

"Hey, calm down," said Leonard, "I was just asking. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Penny with a sigh, "Do you have everything finished, everything signed?"

"Yeah, there may be a problem with one thing, but if there is, they will send it out to a lawyers office in Pasadena and I can resign it there. You sure you're OK?"

"Just a bit jumpy, you scared me."

"Why are you jumpy?" asked Leonard.

"I'm not really," she paused, "I guess I'm just sad we're leaving."

"Here let me have one of those," said Leonard. He grabbed one of the suitcases, walked out of the room and headed down the stairs, with Penny following with her suitcase. They took them out to the car, put them in the trunk, and after closing the lid, headed back into the house.

"Dad," yelled Leonard, "were getting ready to leave."

"I'll be right there," they heard Alfred answer.

Penny and Leonard waited in the kitchen, Leonard said, "You want a water?"

"Yeah," she said, "grab me one, to take along. We have what, an hour or so on the road?"

"Yeah, about an hour," said Leonard. "But, then we have to catch the shuttle over to our hotel, which will probably be another hour."

Alfred walked into the kitchen, "You all ready?"

Penny nodded looking away from Alfred, while Leonard said, "Yeah, the luggage is in the car, we've gotten a bottle of water, so we're leaving. It's only an hour to Hoboken, to drop off the car, but then we'll probably have to wait to catch the shuttle."

Alfred nodded and they all walked out of the house. Getting to the car, Alfred held out his hand toward Leonard, but Leonard turned it into a hug. They were slapping each others backs. After breaking, Penny walked to Alfred and gave him a hug. She broke it, quickly walking around to the other side of the car.

"Well, dad," said Leonard, "Take care, and let me know when you get those signed."

"I will," said Alfred. "Thank you so much for helping."

"Thank you for putting us up," said Leonard. "You need to come out to California."

"Yes," said Alfred, "I think I could do that now, but, as I said, it will be difficult this summer, maybe next year."

"Well, bye," said Leonard as he got into the car.

"By Alfred," said Penny, "it was so nice meeting you. I hope we can see you a bit more." She dropped her eyes, looking away from Alfred.

"I hope so," said Alfred. "It was wonderful meeting you Penny." Alfred paused, it seems as if he was going to say something else to her, but she wasn't looking at him, so he just said, "Bye".

Leonard said "Bye, dad." He started the car, and backed out of the driveway. As he pulled away, he could see his dad waving, and he gave a short wave through the window.

About 15 minutes later, they were on the turnpike, heading for Hoboken. Penny was deep in thought, _Do I really have to think about where our relationship is going right now? We haven't been going out for even a year yet. And, worrying about saying I love you? I know I've said it too soon, and I don't want that to happen with Leonard. I'm just not ready for that yet, so why worry about it. When it happens, Leonard and I will deal with it like Alfred and Allison. We can talk about it, we won't listen to others, we can give each other time, we'll be able to work it out. But, we won't have to worry about that for a while yet._

She looked over at Leonard and smiled. "I can't wait to get to New York," she said.

"Me, either," said Leonard. "I hope you enjoy the shows we have lined up."

"Oh, I know I will," said Penny. I want to get some autographs from people. You won't mine me going to the stage door, to get them, will you?"

Leonard smiled, "No, I won't mind at all."

"Good, I'm going to take a nap," said Penny.

He looked over and nodded. She put the seat back down a bit, closed her eyes, and started thinking of what the next few days were going be like, visiting New York. It was about ten minutes later when she fell asleep.

End

 **A/N I'm working on the Leonard and Penny trip to Nebraska, plus another one shot. I've got some things in life that are interrupting, but I'll be back.**


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